Japanese textiles

Textiles made from simple twisting and plaiting of plant fibres
occurred in the Jōmon period (about 12,500 - 300 BC) and spinning,
dyeing and loom-weaving techniques were introduced from the Asian
continent during the Yayoi period (about 300 BC - AD 300).

In about AD 200 silkworms and silk were introduced from China.
At first Japanese silk was rough, but during the Kofun period (3rd
- 7th century AD) officially recruited continental weavers improved
weaving techniques. By the fifth century Japanese silk was soft
enough to be worn by the emperor. Official textile bureaux were
established during the Nara period (AD 710-94). The outstanding
collection of Emperor Shōmu (AD 701-56) housed in the Shōsōin
treasure-house in Nara includes woven, resist-dyed, embroidered,
braided and plaited textiles made in Japan, as well as many pieces
acquired along the Silk Road. During the Heian period (AD 794-1185)
the emphasis was on dyeing plain colours for the subtle colour
combinations of the jūni hitoe (12-layered gown).

In the mid-fifteenth century, the kosode, the
forerunner of the modern kimono with its plain wrap-around shape,
emerged as an ideal support for the textile designer's art. The
Genroku era (1688-1704) marks the peak of Japanese textile
production and design, examples of which feature in Ukiyo-e
paintings and prints. The samurai class favoured heavy
silks, especially the Nishijin weaves of Kyoto. Townsmen complied
with sumptuary laws by wearing sombre but expensive cottons and
hemps, especially the painterly wax-resist dyed Yūzen designs, and
tie-dyed cottons. Resist-dyed cottons from India also reached
Japan. Important folk textiles include the indigo farmers' and
fishermen's jackets, the elm-bark fibre coats of the Ainu, and
kasuri or ikat of Okinawa. Today many vibrant
textile traditions flourish under government protection, while the
textile makers' art is in constant demand for the making of Nō and
Kabuki costumes.